I feel like everyone has songs of empowerment. Those feel good songs that make you feel almost invincible. Almost all of mine are actually Worship songs. Except this one. But I really like this one:
Everyday I fight for
All my future somethings
A thousand little wars
I have to choose between
I could spend a lifetime
Earning things that I don't need
But that's like chasing rainbows
And coming home empty
And if you strip me,
Strip it all away
If you strip me,
What would you find
If you strip me,
Strip it all away
Ill be alright
Take what you want
Steal my pride
Build me up
Or cut me down to size
Shut me out
But I'll just scream
I'm only one voice in a million
but you ain't taking that from me
Oh oh no you ain't taking that from me
I don't need a microphone, yeah,
To say what I been thinking
My heart is like a loudspeaker
That's always on eleven
And if you strip me,
Strip it all away
If you strip me,
What would you find
If you strip me,
Strip it all away
I'm still the same
Take what you want
Steal my pride
Build me up
Or cut me down to size
Shut me out
But I'll just scream
I'm only one voice in a million
but you ain't taking that from me
Oh oh no you ain't taking that from me
'Cuz when it all boils down
At the end of the day
It's what you do and say
That makes you who you are
Makes you think about it,
Think about it
Doesn't it?
Sometimes all it takes is one voice
Take what you want
Steal my pride
Build me up
Or cut me down to size
Shut me out
But I'll just scream
I'm only one voice in a million
but you ain't taking that from me
Oh oh no you ain't taking that from me
Last night we had some friends over. Finally! It had been so long since we were both able to hang out with people. Allison, Sammy, and Andrew came over and we made a trip to Food 4 Less in the rain. We got the ingredients that we needed and went back to our apartment. We put on the xbox version of Pandora radio, mainly listening to Lady Gaga, Brittney Spears, and Ke$ha (poor Andrew).
We made strawberry margaritas, both with and without tequila. Sammy helped us put the nachos together. Lots of cheese, seasoned ground beef, tortilla chips, and refried beans. Lots and lots of layers. They were delicious!
Then we played Scattergories, which Sammy had never played before, and which he won. I love clever answers, when they make sense.
Then we played some Avatar Drop, Rasculls, and Crash Course on the xbox.
It was such a good night with good food, good drinks, good friends, and lots and lots of laughing!
Me and Allison
Getting stuff out of the fridge with Andrew peeking around the corner haha
Yay!
Sammy and me posed. Doug was getting ice out and stopped looking haha
Our amazing nachos
Giving the depth view to see how many layers there were
Sugar rimmed margarita glasses (for the non-alcoholic drinks; aka mine and Doug's)
Mmmmm
Enjoying our feast
It's crazy how so much music can speak to you. Or speak for you. You're going through a situation and you hear an artist that wrote a song (or had the song written for them), that exactly describes your thoughts or feelings, at least really close. In high school I did a lot of my own writing, but there was nothing like a good song, angry, despaired, or ecstatic, to blast in your ears as you wrote or cried, drove or ran.
I think just about every ex-boyfriend got a break up song. Some song that was popular or that came through my shuffle, or the lyrics floated through my head, and it stuck to the person I was currently dealing with. Songs include:
Nickelback "Someday"
Three Doors Down "Let Me Go"
Kelly Clarkson "Because of you"
Nickelback "Just For"
Death Cab "Summer Skin" and "Someday you will be loved"
Fleetwood Mac "Landslide"
Taking Back Sunday "There's no 'I' in Team"
Nickelback "Do this Anymore"
Avril Lavigne "Forgotten" and "Take me Away"
I even wanted to go to Boston because of Augustana's "Boston" It fit where I was in life in wanting to start over where no one knew me. Luckily I didn't follow through with it :)
The best part of being married? Now I get to tie love songs to someone! I love hearing a song that reminds me of Doug and makes me smile. We've never had an "Our Song", but we have many! My favorites are:
Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor "Come What May"
Barry Louis Polimar "All I want is you"
A Fine Frenzy "Near to You"
James Morrison "You Make it Real"
Michael Buble "Everything"
Carolina Story "Cheers to Loving Me"
We have a lot. But this one has been on my heart a lot lately:
I set out on a narrow way, many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you
Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true:
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you
Yes He did
I think about the years I spent, just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost, and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there, you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true
Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you
But now I'm just rolling home into my lover's arms
This much I know is true:
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you
Right now I'm cozy in sweats, sitting on the most comfortable sofa in the world, sipping tea, enjoying the rain, watching Boy Meets World, all with the most handsome husband in the world.
I'm happy :)
This past weekend was a lot of fun. My sister and nephew, Devonna and Reagan, came to visit. It is so much fun to see how much he has grown and awesome to get to spend time with both of them. Luckily I'm on spring break, so I had extra time I was able to give them. They came on Thursday, and it was supposed to be a surprise for my dad's birthday (everyone knew except for my dad). He came home for lunch though and noticed that Joe's BMW wasn't parked in front of the house anymore. So he knew :)
He was still thrilled though. Devonna and Reagan got home shortly after he did from work (when he revealed that he knew they were here through a bag of Cuties he picked up for Reagan).
Reagan is able to count now, although he seems to always forget 5. He's talking in sentences and learning to ask politely for what he wants ("Down please"). He's also learned that if he wants sweets, he should ask Mimi, cause she'll almost always say yes.
The first morning, I watched Reagan while Devonna went to work. There's construction on a nearby road so we went to go see the trucks in action. Trucks are his favorite, although it's either a tie or a close second to trains. (He wore a Thomas the Train shirt everyday he was here I believe).
He also knew very well that it was Pappy's birthday. Devonna had tried to get him to say Happy Birthday when my dad first opened the door for them. Then the next day I asked him if he knew whose birthday it was on Saturday. He said, "Hoppy Birfday Poppy" (phonetics added). Cutest thing ever. When we had my dad's birthday dinner he kept saying "Pappy's birthday!" and "Happy Birthday Pappy!" On the last day before he left he was outside and went up to the picnic table and said, "table!" I told him that was where we celebrated his 2nd birthday. He promptly said, "Happy Birthday Pappy!" Haha
Doug also taught him to play hide and seek, although Doug only did the hiding and Reagan only did the seeking (it's still a concept just beyond Reagan's grasp). Reagan would look at me and ask, "Where's Doug?" and he'd point down the hall and say, "That way?" and then point the other direction and go, "That way?" Doug also had to learn that he had to hide in pretty obvious places otherwise Reagan got frustrated.
Reagan was looking at our family photos and was naming everyone in them (this story is from my mom, but is just too cute not to share). He named Mimi, Pappy, Mommy, and Chelle. Then he asked, "Where's Doug?" My mom told him that we hadn't met yet. Then he asked, "Where's Reagan?" She told him that he hadn't been born yet. He asked a few more times though. That's a hard concept for kids too.
Otherwise we had fun at the park discovering dandelions and ladybugs. He also learned the word "grass" since the ground is still covered in snow in Colorado. We went to the beach where he kissed the sand and knocked over Pappy's castles. We saw big trucks twice and he informed us they were really loud. He watched the dinosaur scene in Fantasia at least ten times. We ate pie and ice cream. He had lots of peanut butter and graham crackers, and peanut M&Ms. We saw the St. Patrick's Parade and he got a bunch of hand outs. He took anything they gave him. Magnets, stickers, coupons, candy. He loved it. He saw three fire trucks in the parade and lots of cars.
Yesterday they went home. I got to see them off as they went to the airport before I had to go to work. Luckily, I found Reagan's moose that he always goes to sleep with. It was hiding in the water bed.
Today my Aunt Barb came into town to get some work done on her teeth by my dad. We got to visit with her after youth group for a bit and just talk. It's been so long since we've talked, it was so much fun sharing stories. Hopefully I get to spend some more time before going to work tomorrow night.
We also got to see Doug's mom this morning. She was traveling up north and stopped by for about an hour. It was really nice to get to catch up a bit. We don't see her enough, so any time we get we really enjoy.
Thursday Doug and I are going to Big Bear Mountain for a quick getaway. We've both been so busy. Luckily we've both made "us" a priority and make time to hang out, we do our marriage classes, and really do stay connected during the day or if we're unable to chat during the day, we talk for a really long time. I'm thankful that we aren't drifting, but we haven't been able to getaway or have a vacation with just us since our honeymoon. Doug's been feeling burnt out lately and I was getting there (luckily I hit Spring Break). My parents were really generous and told us that if we were able to get work off, they'd fund a trip to Big Bear to us. We were ecstatic (once we knew we'd be able to. I didn't want to get my hopes up if we weren't able to clear two days). So we get to go up on Thursday and ski/snowboard at Snow Summit and then stay in a suite with a wood burning fireplace and a jacuzzi in the room. I'm so excited for it!
Tomorrow is my mostly rest day. I do have a closing shift, but I'm gonna take the day off and just rest. Although I do need to pack and make sure everything is ready to go. Make sure the camera is charged. And that I have enough warm clothes. Which is why it's a "mostly" rest day.
So this has been a really good Spring Break. Thank you God!
Me and the little guy watching the trucks
He was just as happy about playing the sticks and rocks as he was about watching the trucks
He still looooves slides! But not so thrilled about swings.
And he really liked walking on the castle-like wall. Practicing his balancing.
He fell asleep during lunch.
Watching the parade. We stayed for an hour and a half. He got bored by then, and so did we.
Showing us the flower that he got
He runs with open arms when he sees someone he loves. He likes giving hugs. And kisses. I got a milky one right before he left.
Happy Birthday Pappy!
The strawberry rhubarb pie that Devonna and I made. And the ice cream to go with it.
Playing with Reagan. I barely fit on his car so he'd push me. He was grunting from the effort. Then he stopped and said, "You're too big." Hahaha he was right.
Some pictures from Hume:
It snowed the first night we were there. We came out of chapel and it was snowing. Hard. If that's possible. Big flakes I guess is more accurate. It snowed through the night and then the next night. We were so blessed that it didn't snow until after we got there, and they got hit with another huge storm after we left. Praise God! It was such a good weekend watching Broom Hockey, talking with students, hanging out in the Okay Chalet, taking pictures of the students snowboarding, and having snowball fights. Amazing.
It's been a while.
I know.
I kept meaning to update, but always got too busy. February really is too short.
And now we're about to lose an hour of daylight.
I hate daylight savings.
Spring break starts after school tomorrow. I was supposed to have a test in my capstone class but our professor asked us if we wanted to move it to today and then just have Friday off. No one objected. So now I get one more day of Spring Break. Amaaazing.
Today I picked out my Christmas present from Doug. He had gotten me a Kindle case, but the one my parents gave me came with one, but I forgot to mention that part to him. So he got me a really nice one. But we took it back since I already had one. Then what I wanted to get a season of Everwood and a season of Boy Meets World, but right after Christmas they jacked the prices up. I was looking on Amazon today and saw that the prices dropped even lower than before! So I asked Doug if I could get them, and got a puzzle! It's been a while since we've done one of our big puzzles. I'm excited to have our table covered in a thousand puzzle pieces and spend time with Doug.
Doug' been really patient with me in letting the chores go around the house. We're both really busy, but he finds time to make me feel loved. I got home from work last night at 11:30 and he had made up the bed and put away the laundry. I love that man.
Ever since Hume, I've been helping out with the high school youth group whenever I have that night off. With all my other committments, I can't afford to ask for more nights off work, but love the conversations with the girls and getting closer with them. So I go when I can. And then there's always facebook haha.
I don't think I mentioned it, but I got another job. Sort of. I clean my dad's office now. I disinfect and dust everything, and I've started bisseling the carpets, which is a biiig job.
We're also on the last season of Lost. Can't believe how quickly we flew through the series, but it's addicting! I dunno what we'll watch after we're done, but I'm sure we'll find something!
I've also discovered Pretzel M&Ms. They're sooo good. I get them whenever I see they're on sale, and the bag is gone within a few days.
I feel like that's all the news for now. Which wasn't much news...I'll have more to say next week :)
